Date TBD
Text: To be decided by the group
Location: Place
October 22, 2025
Time: 18:00–19:30, followed by an apéro
Location: ETH Zurich (main building), Room E3, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zurich
Moderator: Marcy Goldberg
Language: English
How can we move beyond dominant narratives of development and reimagine Africa on its own terms? What knowledge counts, and who decides?
A public conversation with Prof. Felwine Sarr, one of Africa's leading contemporary thinkers, as he reflected on the ideas in his influential book Afrotopia and what has changed since its publication. Against the backdrop of global aid cuts, shifting power dynamics, and the urgent need to decolonize knowledge production, Sarr invited us to reimagine Africa's future through a new, self-determined lens.
Felwine Sarr is a Senegalese economist, philosopher, and writer. He currently holds the Anne-Marie Bryan Distinguished Professorship of Romance Studies at Duke University, after teaching at Université Gaston Berger in Saint-Louis, Senegal. His work spans economics, epistemology, African philosophy, and cultural restitution.
Public lecture attended by a significant number of club members. The nature of the debate and particularly the way it was chaired was hotly debated in the wa group during the lecture. Members of the club convened in a nearby establishment to process the substance of the lecture. Some siding with the transformational unnuanced nature of the claims, some wanting more in terms of specific political alternatives.
December 4, 2025
Location: Aula of the University of Zurich (KOL-G-201)
Description: Audrey Tang is a civic hacker and technologist who rewires systems for the public good. As Taiwan’s cyber ambassador and first digital minister, she showed how technology could deepen trust, giving millions a direct role in shaping policy. Having proven these systems in Taiwan, Tang now shares this playbook worldwide, using openness and co-creation to fight polarisation and renew democracy.
More information: Event details